Transcript Reagan

1980-1992
22.1 DRQ
Describe one challenge that each of the following presidents had
to deal with during their administrations:
• Nixon
• Ford
• Carter
 America in low spirits

Watergate, economy, hostages
 Carter’s “malaise speech”
 The 1980 election
 Reagan recalls better times
 Reagan/Bush win by landslide
 From actor to governor
 Reagan = optimism
 Reagan’s 1964 speech
 Governor of CA
 Reagan’s conservative support
 The New Right
 Religious backing – Jerry Falwell
 A powerful personality
 The “Great Communicator”
 Nancy Reagan – “Just Say No”
 Reagan’s presidential agenda
 Reduce gov’t, cut taxes, USSR
 Assassination attempt
 Supply-side economics
 David Stockman
 Stimulate investment
 Budget deficit
 tax rates favor wealthy
 Recession and recovery
 Gov’t revenue down
 Gov’t spending up
 Federal Reserve lowers rates
 Congress tries to control deficit
 The Evil Empire
 Rejects containment/detente
 Wants to “destroy communism”
 Military spending soars
 “peace with strength”
 SDI proposed (Star Wars)
 A weakened Soviet Union
 Soviet economy shrinking
 Lech Walesa – “Solidarity”
 U.S.-Soviet relations warm
 Mikhail Gorbachev
 INF Treaty – reduce arms
 Upheaval in Latin America
 Anti-communist support
 El Salvador, Nicaragua
 Reagan supports the Contras
 Tragedy in Lebanon
 U.S. embassy bombed
 Marine barracks bombed
 Victory in Grenada
 Communist coup defeated
 Apartheid in South Africa
 Reagan’s “constructive
engagement”
 Reagan defies Congress
 U.S. sells weapons to Iran
 Money diverted to Contras
 Lt. Col. Oliver North responsible
 Reagan admits selling arms
 Administration involved in cover
up
 Rep. nominate George H. Bush
 Jesse Jackson’s impressive
showing
 Dem. nominate Michael
Dukakis
 Bush’s promise – no new taxes
 “Read my lips”
 Glasnost and perestroika





Glasnost – “opening”
Opened USSR to new ideas
Perestroika – “restructuring”
Rid USSR of corruption
Chernobyl accident cover up
 Eastern Europe crumbles
 Soviet troops out of E. Europe
 Velvet revolution in Czech.
 Democracy in Poland/Romania
 The fall of the Berlin Wall
 Gates opened – Nov. 9, 1989
 Berliners begin tearing down
wall
 East and West Germany reunited
 The end of the Soviet Union




Hardliners seize Gorbachev
Boris Yeltsin rescues Gorbachev
1991 – CIS formed - USSR gone
START I and START II Treaties
 China: democracy crushed
 Tiananmen Square massacre
 Panama: a dictator falls
 Col. Manuel Noriega
 Drug trafficking
 U.S. invasion – capture
 The Persian Gulf War
 Saddam Hussein invades Kuwait
 Multi-national coalition formed
 Operation Desert Storm
 South Africa: new freedom
 De Klerk and Nelson Mandela
end apartheid
 Steve Jobs and Bill Gates
introduce personal computers
 Space shuttle could be reused
 NASA’s “workhorse”
 1986 – the “Challenger” tragedy
 Uneven economic growth
 1980’s – large GDP growth
 Alan Greenspan and “the Fed”
 Rising deficits
 Deficit and debt skyrocket
 Financial deregulation
 Corporate raiders and
downsizing
 Savings and loan crisis
 Government rescues bankrupt
companies
 Bush and the economy
 Bush raises taxes – breaks
promise
 Milestones
 More women voting than men
 Sandra Day O’Conner
 American with Disabilities Act
 Changes in Immigration law
 Increased immigration limits
 Court battles over social issues
 Student searches upheld
 School religious groups upheld
 Abortion limits clarified
 Battles over Sup. Ct. nominees
 Clarence Thomas – sexual
harassment
 A deadly disease
 HIV/AIDS epidemic